GAJO Games

GAJO Happenings and Ramblings Blog

2012 - Number 39

Mark surveys the defences before his force

Mega Game: Bolt Action WW1 - Kaiserschlacht, 1918

September's Mega Game turned to a new era for us, WW1 later war on the western front.

Numerous players had much of the year to collect and paint up forces for this era, while Chris worked up some excellent trench terrain tiles for us (see blog #35). For figures we used primarily the great range from Great War miniatures, but with some Copplestone and Old Glory units mixed in.

British Defenders in the Trench Lines

The Preliminary Bombardment Begins

Although we had originally planned to do the game using the Warhammer Great War rules, since Warhammer Historical went out of business, and with the advent of the really popular Bolt Action rules, we decided to try out the game using Bolt Action. I worked up a set of modifications and force lists for Bolt Action as a WW1 set, see the link here.

Kaiserschlacht was a huge German assault, using advanced stormtrooper tactics, aimed at breaking the allies before the weight of the arriving US forces could be felt. The scenario involved a German assault on the front line of a British held sector, with infiltrating units entering from both sides, really testing the deep British defences.

The Rear Areas, Sparsely Defended

British Mortar Team Goes Into Action

The game started with a large prliminary bombardment, which left many of the British untis pinned down. The Germans began their assault, with a large force attacking through no man's land, while infiltrators tried to take the British rear area HQ from two different sides.

The Bolt Action mechanics worked really well for the Great War. Heavy firepower tended to pin forces down, and they struggle to advance into heavy fire.

Greg's Infiltrators Arrive

While Mark's Force Pushes Through No Man's Land

But when forces are able to get around the firepower, or overwhelm it in numbers, they managed to get into assault and the quick, decisive mechanics of Bolt Action felt "right" for the trench warfare we were recreating.

In our game the Germans had the upper hand, with their infiltrators overwhelming the rear areas while the assault troops cleared the french trenches, although with heavy losses. British armor moved up from reserve to counterattack, but was unable to restore the situation. A fun and exciting game, something we'll definitely do more of!